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→Rhythm
== Rhythm ==
The best way to warm-up for rhythm is to play to a metronome or a good drummer. The first thing to get down is consistency, so all your notes fall on the beats and have equal duration. Metallica used to warm up by simply chugging palm mutes on the open low E string for a good 5-10 minutes. It seems simple until you try it.
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n x100
pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm pm
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
Practice on at least 4 different speeds, with an extreme slow and a fast speed that is close to your maximum. Practice with all downstrokes, all upstrokes, and strict alternate picking. Obviously, the straight down or upstroke exercises will require a slower speed than the alternate picking. Also try different strings.
This same exercise works for strummed chords, although you'll likely need to reduce the relative speeds. Start by keeping the left hand constant, holding the same chord throughout.
Playing the same note or chord over and over is easy to get a consistent rhythm. Trying to keep that rhythm with runs or riffs or chord changes is another story. Once you establish a good right hand using the above exercise, you have to lock it in. Don't ever let your right hand ''wait'' to catch up with the left. If the left hand is slow to fret the notes, play them uncleanly. Throwing off your rhythm might sound ok playing in the bedroom but becomes painfully obvious in a band or recording context. Even playing solo, hearing it played back that inconsistent rhythm sounds pretty terrible. Unclean playing is also noticeably bad, but sounds less amateur. And its easy to get in the habit of sacrificing rhythm to attain synchronicity, which then becomes difficult to break. The other way around is going to be more noticeable to you and annoying and forces you to make the left hand sync to the right hand.
The kind of playing to get a good warm-up for rhythm will depend on the individual and the type of playing you perform. If you are a rhythm player, it may make sense to alternate between two strings or power chords or full chord changes. If you are a lead player, playing various scales ascending and descending, as well as arpeggios or advanced techniques like tapping and sweeps makes more sense.
The key thing is when you're jamming or playing along to your favorite song or trying to record a part, you may notice some riffs or chord changes or rhythms that seem impossible to nail. Make a mental or written log of these things, identify the specific parts of the licks or riffs or changes are giving you trouble, and try to break down ''why'' it's difficult. This will let you develop your own exercises that consist nearly entirely of such. It's helpful to alternate between sections of these parts and just chugging on single notes or a static chords like above.
Another thing to practice is throwing in accents. Start by putting accents on the beats:
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
> > > > > > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
1 tr lt 2 tr lt 3 tr lt 4 tr lt
> > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--:|
1 u n u 2 u n u 3 u n u 4 u n u
> > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
1 t l n t l 2 t l n t l 3 t l n t l 4 t l n t l
> > > >
E-|:0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-:|
The faster the tempo, the harder it is to work those accents in. But they really help you keep a consistent rhythm - you know every 2, 3, 4, or 6 notes you should be making an accented downstroke on the beat. It's easy to hear when and in which direction your rhythm is falling off and make the correction. A consistent rhythm demands control and accents demand more control than static dynamics. That makes this a great warm-up.
Then you try trickier accent patterns, where accents alternate between downstrokes and upstrokes.
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
> > > > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
> > > > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
> > > > > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
> > > > > > > > > >
E-|:0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-:|
== Finger-Stretching ==